Krikos: The Vertical Horizon

by Rishabh Dubey

  “No, I can’t say he was my friend that sucker. Never friend. He bloody owed me ten heavy Phransuels. Had he to choose this very moment to die huh? Just when we had crossed the omens to find some bloody hope. That bastard of a counsellor. That good for nothing traitor. Castino Gorvez, the next time I’m seeing him will be the last time he will be seen,” the furious Rush muttered.

  Krawn drifted behind them and uttered softly “Brothers… This is the first ‘war murder’ we have seen throughout our lives. Some of us have worked in the Krikos police before and some on dangerous missions, but this was the first murder of a human being on record in 150 years now. No matter how strong we were, we were not sued to the burden. And we can never be no matter how war-prone our habitation. Death is a pain one cannot ignore. But we cannot give in to our pain right now. We must endure it. We have lost people before. We are not immortal. So, we have to buckle up. Two of our comrades are still missing. Cantor and Steffy. I know Tref, the urge you’re feeling to search for her. But we must stay calm for now. And listen well, people. The Eutopium has named Kridious the man in charge now. He will give the Primary commands. We have ordered to safely bring back a diplomatic member of the Annaeaxian rebels, who according to me must be Prabarus if is willing to. A fatality doesn’t mean we have lost it. They may think we have, but we haven’t. Two other good people have died in this conflict… Gart and Cantor. But it doesn’t mean we can freely lose more. And no matter what, I am not going to leave two of my comrades behind, whom I could have saved. I am ready to put my life on the line for them though I am not the Captain now… I was back then, and it was my responsibility to complete my last mission. I can’t command you now, though…”

  “You think I can do any better than the likes of you… Tell us what we need to do Sir and no moaning about it,” said Kridious. Krawn caught hold of his ageing stable hands, trained to hide the shiver at the molecular level. He looked up to them and said “We are in a war we don’t know much about. Centuries of growth and learnings stand refuted at this witness of unawareness. We find ourselves at the centre of dark, unknown knowledge which has been kept from us unconsciously by the Universal elements themselves. The UISE we encountered, the Annaeaxians, the human presence on the planet, nothing is making sense since we haven’t been prepared for this. Right now all we have are short-term plans of actions. History testifies that whenever mankind has encountered the unknown and underestimated it, it has faced a downfall. So, first things first, we retrieve the two of them and then make plans for escape. We have a 44-hour window as for now. And Then…” Krawn said.

  “And then? We will sum everything up to a definitive or even tentative conclusion, wouldn’t we? Once we have assessed everything, we can make our move on them” said Kridious.

  “And then … well, before all of that, the war is not over yet.” Krawn concluded.

  ♦♦♦

  The stage was set for the massive action. The Krydon was all charged up with all its crew members ready at their stations. The Visi Screen showed the countdown to the base-transmission as ‘3 hours and 45 minutes’. That’s the time they had. The time for a possible counter-attack.

  The glittering atmosphere, pure Lazarus sparkle of war for the war-seeking species of the gods of doom, Humans. Seek the damnation of victory or the ridicule of lose… wars destroy… Humans destroy. And they were going to do it again. The Krydon, the hope was ready for war. Three space fighters were supporting its three vulnerable front decks. The Krydon departed with the crewmates onboard and ready for the steady yet massive attack. The plan was to infiltrate the central Colonist space station from point-blank range. The Celestials moved out of the planetary stratosphere into the Blockade, obliterating every obstacle in their path with no mercy. Krawn himself guided many proton ion blasts. Then they reached the core of the blockade nearing the Central Battle station. The Krydon drilled through the Station Hangar. The Sentinel Combats-men got down in their conventional and proper formation, debilitating every Royalist/Colonist in their way. They tried to track down either of Steffy or Cantor through the secondary command room of the station. But when they failed, Krawn divided them into four scouting teams to do so. One of them being the star duo of himself and Rush. The two of them recalled their footsteps from their early ventures inside the station and reach the central command. The scenario worsened when the internal communications of the station were blocked, and all the four teams were stranded in their respective blocks. Krawn and Rush fought through the inner hallway but were forced to be on their defences by the shocking might of the royalists. They both stood surrounded against the Giant Glass lookout-

  “Man… got any ideas in that bright mind of yours... Oh hell, I miss Nahcas now,” Rush exclaimed.

  “Mine is recharging too. I guess we have to submit in,” Krawn said while examining his surroundings for an escape route.

  The soldiers started closing in on the two when suddenly an explosion in the prior chamber helped them escape. They made a run towards the Hangar and get into one of the Krydon support fighters to escape the station and were tailed by a whole fighter squadron. They even found Raymor and Colo in another of the support crafts who joined them in their crucial defence plot. But just when the odds had completely turned against them, a bright flash was seen coming from the secondary station ahead of them, and tearing away the flash came a large Colonist carrier. Unexpectedly, it started crashing into the Colonist fighter squadron and safeguarded Krawn and his three mates. Suddenly, the holo-projector on Krawn’s fighter lightened up with the most reassuring of displays- Steffy and Cantor were inside of the Carrier. Krawn and Colo, both landed their fighters in the Hangar of the carrier to greet their mates.

  “You know how much I am happy to see you without injuries, Steffy. And you too Bald. And Steffy… let us go back fast. Tref completed his training back home and is here to see you,” Krawn said.

  “He’s here?” Steffy asked in full anxiety. But that anxiety was raised with the sound of another big flash of light coming from the Central Station.

  “What is that?” Steffy asked.

  “That is Kridious getting angry.”

  ♦♦♦

  “Yeah… here too… and here too… DIE… FOR I SHALL COUNT THEE…HAHA” came a loud and vehement scream as various sectors of the Station were blowing up to smithereens. The characteristic switch from a reserved dominating persona to a sadistic war-psycho was already the singular identity of the bipolar hero of Kridious. His words formed a sarcastic mock to his inherited race, which by the old Epilion system of ranking made him an ‘Accountant of death’. The communications were restored, and they secured the station completely. Kridious called in a meeting in the Command room of the Station to gather intelligence. Steffy met Tref and the others after a very long time. They tried to go through the database but found the archives destroyed, probably during the attack. Raymor brought in two Colonist prisoners for investigation. Kridious began asking questions.

  “Ok here… I have come to know that you understand our language?” Kridious said to a prisoner.

  He didn’t reply, so Kridious grabbed his neck and said “This is the first time so I didn’t kill you… but I am not used to not being answered. Once again, I ask you. And the moment you remain silent or give an insignificant answer or gesture or even breathe before answering…you die. So why are humans here?”

  “Finem Mutatio… you shall die before the change,” the man spoke, and Kridious grabbed his sword and immediately decapitated him.

  “Now now… now you know I don’t lie. So you might consider not speaking in moronic. Consider even ‘not speaking’ a crime. So, the same question. Why are you humans here? Ok! before that, one important one. Where is Castino Gorvez?” Kridious continued his interrogation. He heard the Prisoner murmur something and shouted: “What’s that huh?”

  “Etiamn… Etiamnum Triumphos… Etiamnum Triumphos Finem Mutatio… Etiamnum Triumphos Finem Mutatio… kill ME NOW… I AM
READY... ARE YOU?”

  “Oh yes! Let us test that theory of yours,” Kridious waved his swords up but was stopped by Nahcas Sachyon- “Hey... We need him. Let me.”

  “Are you sure you can do it?” Krawn asked.

  “I’ll give it my best,” Nahcas replied.

  He took the other man to a separate room, and the talks began in the hallway.

  Colo- “That guy and his ‘POWERS’!”

  Tref- “Hey... don’t mock him. It is not power. It is a skill. Reading minds is not easy but is not impossible. It can be done through certain high-frequency mind receptors.”

  Rush- “Which were gifted to him… he was not born with them.”

  Krawn- “But he is the only one who can use such powers… and it is not that easy. There is a huge risk here. And it is complete brain malfunction that we were talking about.”

  Rush- “The dark legend of Narma Surja has myths about him which tell his grasp over the might of the human brain. He could read minds and manipulate them. Although, he was an autodidact unlike our friend here. The entire Krikos is aware of the conspiracy that he rather died midst one of his failed attempts at controlling the world.”

  The talks went on for some time, and then Nahcas returned with a heavy and worked up face and red eyes. He went to Krawn to whisper the information to him alone. Krawn appeared as pale as possible on hearing it. He was corroborating the information given by Nahcas recursively, as if in disbelief. Then he came and announced to everyone.

  “We didn’t get much Intel on Castino… And neither on most of the questions, we had in our minds. Especially the ‘Why’s. It seems that the captive was just a small minion with a restricted set of instructions and information. But…we did come to know one thing… It has been bugging my mind as to why they called us Celestials… and what made it worse was they even called the rebels as Celestials. It is not a usual term and not even used in its usual sense. I know even Kridious thought this at first… and amongst us… whoever has good knowledge of history might know the importance of the word ‘Celestials’. Even I thought that it is impossible… but with what Nahcas told me… This is what it is...”

  “What is it? I don’t get you,” asked Mira.

  “They are humans alright. Nahcas couldn’t get the timeline of their Annaeaxian journey, but he could get the name under which they lie. The old revolution era before the Krikos on earth… well, a new term was developed which was well in use today. The one which Rush was well acquainted with. And I guess he knows where these talks are leading to. They are Black Flaggers. And as you know every black flagger has a cult.”

  “A black flagger… out here? Weren’t they all killed by the likes of Rush? So what cult then?” Steffy asked anxiously.

  “Well… as it seems for now, before dying our last prisoner said one thing, ‘The foes of Kronos shall perish with him… Replaced by sweet Stillness the end is the change.’”

  “What? Don’t say they are the…” Mira shouted.

  “Ironical that Rush chose to mention Narma Surja a few minutes ago… Yes! they are one of the most archaic original black-flagger cults, which were presumed to be extinct centuries ago. The Stillites,” Krawn said with a hypothetical theme of impending doom.

  Diaries of Flex:

  Episode 11-

  The good ol ’days.

  M

  emory is the foundation of the human soul. To be able to identify, memorise and remember... it’s the pillar which sustains knowledge. But having a memory is a curse when it comes to the darkness of isolation. We can’t ever choose not to remember, whether the good or the bad. Even if we ever could have had, it would have had all vanquished with the advent of modern genetic engineering and medical practice. People sometimes resented living in the advanced world... as if there was nothing else to resent. I had certain memories of myself too. Very unique ones they were. The most hurting of my memories were the times of ecstasy I enjoyed with my mate Flex. They hurt, because I knew they were not going to repeat themselves. Even before Flex’s death, I knew that those memories wouldn’t show up in reality again... because Flex had changed (he would’ve been so mad if I had said this to his face). Before this change... Flex and I had many things in common, like our common interest in repairing damaged things or that of watching Holocron Media Cinema or listening to Classical Harmonies. Sometimes, when I sit down in my work chair and look at the Multi-coloured Wings of the White Bird of Science (the sculpture representing Official Science Department) held in the Holy Niche, I get lost in the darkness of the enigma of memories. An eternal yet rhetorical conundrum. My times with Flex remain unparalleled till date. So, I always end up in a traditional self-inflicting soliloquy with the same conclusion. And I always say it out loud – “Those were the days ... The good ol ‘days.”

  Back in those days, Flex and I were both Apprentice Engineers working at the New Foundation Space Camp on Earth’s moon. We were working on a graphics transmitter of long range. Flex was still a genius, mindless, arrogant jerk back then. He was not a gregarious kind from the beginning, but he had a certain gateway to his emotions which went through rebuking him in his circle.

  It was just like any other day … well until ‘that’ happened. That which amazes me every time I think of it. It seemed like a fictitious happening. It all started when we decided to take a little break and visit the Moonlight Canteen. That’s when it happened. I saw this woman. She was dazzling with a kind of magnetic beauty. Flex also saw her for a split second. But the awe lies in the fact that she saw him back. The Condescending Austere Flex. The idiosyncrasy lies in the fact that she didn’t just see him... but she gave a classical gesture of romanticism; what many call smiling while some call ‘Flirting ‘. Although Flex was not much acquainted with the prerequisites and ethics of courting a woman and neither was he normal or in his sense mundane enough to understand the indications of the woman. I almost said to myself “I solemnly declare that I have seen everything. Galacta, you can take me to the Eternal Realm now.”

  It was the year 379 E.E. and the concept of Unofficial Diplomats had not been outsourced yet. So, there she was. Trying to bring Flex to the world of Infatuation and Adoration. I almost got up to warn Flex to be wary while dealing with a woman but was stopped by his nonchalance. I pitied the woman. She had chosen the wrong guy to flirt with. I thought of having a little fun and gave a combination of advice wrapped in a deluge. And I convinced him with the ‘natural’ law to “Always choose the beautiful woman that smiles at you over your best friend.” How else would he have gotten a woman? Flex, oblivious to the general feminine nature, went to her more robotically than usual. I wanted Phransuels and snacks to enjoy the show but held a masquerade of sympathy to gratify Old Galacta. But to my deadly surprise, the woman started enjoying the conversation with Flex. And then I saw the deadliest, the most hurting sight- I saw Flex laugh openly. It felt so bad, that guy, getting a girl. I assumed deep sympathies for the women of the Universe who now had to cope with that new Flex who had recently extricated his impervious nature and went for the door. I stopped for a second and wondered that there was something surreptitious about the woman. A normal female… or even Human couldn’t have made Flex laugh. I saw them enjoy, gave a heavy sigh and left ignorantly to my quarters. After his first meeting, he came back to our chamber. I was waiting for him to tell me about her. But in the end (as usual) I had to go and ask him myself – “So what's up? How was the day?”

  “Fine ... Why do you ask? “

  “Brother ... if you don’t utter every single word in the next few seconds then I am going to raze you down to complete oblivion.”

  “From your dire curiosity, I guess you were inquiring about that lady in the Canteen. Her name is Artha Collisque. She is here on a private travel permit. She has come only for about a month or so.”

  “Oh great! We’d be leaving in two. So, what was it like? Did you both coordinate?”

  “Yes, we coordinated a lot. I mean
she is a mirror of mine... with an opposite gender and some other profession … and face... and name... whatever. But yeah, she is a mirror. Her experiences and thoughts not only run parallel but also superimpose on mine”, he said.

  “Oh, that is great man. Nice for you. I’m glad (I was not). What else?”

  “Oh yes. We were discussing, and it came to the revelation that she is a spokesperson for a cult.”

  “Don’t tell me… A politician. Some revelation eh? So how did a politician get a private license to the moon?”

  “I know. I presumed she is some special case.”

  “Well, okay! If she was a politician, then what cult? Okay (I laughed a little). Well, I guess you need to follow a black cult to come on the red list of the Eutopium. Maybe she has good terms with them.”

  “Hmmm ... about that...… mm, I ought to tell you that she… well, I told you that she is like a mirror of mine?”

  “Yeah, you did… wait… do you…? NO… can’t be. She is a Stillite.”

  “Yeah, I have been told.”

  “Did you know that Stillite is a rogue cult? It took you forever to get into the science department because you follow it. Now you tell me she is a Stillite Black Flagger? Do you know being a Black Flagger is a level 1 offence? Just BEING it?”

  “… Yeah, I have been told.”

  “Say no more, you mindless idiot, stay away from her; or be blacklisted in the royal notebook.”

  “What are you so afraid of here? We are not plotting against the Eutopium.”

  “If that ‘we’ means us two, then you are right. But I am not so sure about her.”